Music Musings from Emily Hearn

With the recent success of her album, Hourglass, under her belt and a soulsy sound that gives us chills, along with lyrics ripped straight out of our own minds, it’s no surprise that singer/songwriter Emily Hearn is one to keep an eye on. The 24-year-old songstress has wowed us from the beginning with addictive singles and EPs, and Hourglass is no exception—in fact, it’s so good that it’s landed Emily on a two-month tour, happening now! (Seriously, check the dates to see if she’s playing near you.) See what she has to say about her journey thus far and get ready to introduce a few new tunes to your library!

On Hourglass: While love is still a common theme, Emily admits that it’s a different kind of love. “Earlier, when I started writing music it was definitely a lot about crushes and break-ups and love and relationships, and now it’s kind of more about life. I write a little about the different feelings we have growing up,” she shares.

Fav song: “‘Waking Up Again’… it’s just one of those songs that just came together really easily it’s really fun and simple to perform and it’s lighthearted. I like the way it makes me feel.”

A work of art: When we asked Emily about seeing the album for the first time, she couldn’t hold back her excitement! “This was actually the first time that we’ve decided to do an illustrated cover rather than a photo. I basically told him (the designer) I wanted the symbol of an hourglass—the passage of time, but I wanted to do it in a creative way, so we came up with the flower continuum. So on the left the flowers are buds, and in the middle they bloom, and on the right they die. When I saw what he came up with, I loved it so much!”

The challenge: “I taught myself how to play guitar and I never had anyone teach me how to write songs or basically how to play any type of music… I kinda found it hard in the studio in the past to express myself and describe exactly what I want and to be confident in that. I feel like for this album I was working for a team and my producer who were amazing and wanted to hear my point of view and who wanted to make something that was very me… and I couldn’t have imagined it to come together more perfectly.”

Dream collab: “Brandy Carlisle… she’s someone who really inspired me to do this. And actually I was super lucky on this album because another one of my favorites, Ben Rector, reached out to me and said, ‘I would love to write together and I love what you do.'” Be sure to check out their collabs on the album, “Please Don’t Take Your Love Away” and “Save Me!”

It’s tradition!: Everyone has their good luck rituals—Emily and the band are no exception! “We really just try to take about ten minutes before and do some jumping jacks and push-ups… when we had a full band we used to sing the Donkey Kong theme song. I don’t know where it started!”

Advice for you: “It’s not too late because I didn’t even start doing anything [with] music until I was a senior in school— and I didn’t even play my first show until I was like 20. I think being yourself is the most important… the world doesn’t need another copy of somebody else, the world needs you because every person is so unique. It’s amazing to see that every time I write with a new person, I’m amazed at how different our ideas are and they’re really important to bring to the table.” Couldn’t have said it better ourselves!